DAILY GK 29-31 AUG 2025
1. INDIA’S
FLAG BEARERS FOR WORLD PARA ATHLETICS
·
The
Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) announced that
Paralympians Dharambir and Preeti Pal were chosen as
the flag bearers of the Indian contingent for the 12th
World Para Athletics Championships (2025), scheduled to be held
at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
·
This will
be the first time India is hosting the championship, with a 73-member
contingent representing India in the tournament.
·
Over 107 countries are expected to
participate, making it the largest championship edition.
·
Actress Kangana Ranaut served as the brand ambassador for the tournament.
2. NEERAJ
CHOPRA FINISHES SECOND IN DIAMOND LEAGUE
·
Neeraj Chopra finished runner-up with
his best throw measuring 85.01 meters (m) in
the Diamond League Final 2025 held in Zurich, Switzerland.
·
Julian Weber (Germany) clinched his first Diamond
League trophy with a personal best throw of 91.57m.
3. WORLD’S
1ST AI-POWERED BANK
·
Malaysia scripted history with the launch of Ryt Bank,
the World’s 1st Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered bank developed by
Malaysians, for local users.
·
This
initiative was led Malaysia’s YTL in partnership
with Singapore’s tech firm Sea Limited, marks a major
step in the country’s digital future.
·
The Ryt AI application (app) is currently
available in 3 languages namely, Bahasa,
Malaysia and English; with Mandarin support is expected to be available
by September 2025.
4. GOI
STAKE DIVESTMENT IN 4 BANKS
·
Government
of India (GoI) has appointed Goldman
Sachs, global investment banking firm, as the sole
transaction advisor for divestment of stakes in four Public
Sector Banks (PSBs) such as Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Central
Bank of India (CBI), UCO Bank,
and Punjab & Sind Bank.
·
At
present, the GoI holds over 90% equity in each of these
banks.
·
It plans
to divest up to 5% of its stake in the four PSBs in
two tranches.
·
This
divestment forms part of the government’s broader strategy to lower its stake
in PSBs and comply with Securities Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) 25% minimum
public shareholding requirement before the August 1, 2026 deadline.
5. INDIA
PROJECTED TO BECOME WORLD’S 2ND-LARGEST ECONOMY IN PPP TERMS BY 2038
·
Ernst
& Young (EY) released the ‘August
2025 issue of EY Economy Watch’,
projecting that India could become the world’s second-largest
economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) by 2038, with
an estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 34.2
trillion(tn).
·
This
projection is based on International Monetary
Fund (IMF) growth forecasts for 2028–2030.
·
By 2030, India’s GDP is expected to reach USD 20.7
tn in PPP terms, while China
is projected to remain the largest economy with a PPP GDP of USD 42.2 tn.
·
The
United States of America (USA) remains strong but faces high debt levels
exceeding 120% of GDP and slower growth rates.
·
If India and the USA maintain their
projected growth rates beyond 2030, India
is expected to surpass the USA in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) by 2038.
·
The
report added that the average predicted
growth rates of India and the USA over the period 2028 to 2030 are 6.5% and 2.1% (as
per IMF) respectively.
6. PMJDY
COMPLETES 11 YEARS
·
The
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched by the
Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi in August 2014, marks 11
years of transformative impact in India’s financial landscape.
·
The world’s largest financial inclusion scheme,
PMJDY is a National Mission for Financial Inclusion that
seeks to provide every unbanked adult in India with a bank account, a financial
identity, and access to essential services like credit, insurance, and
pensions.
·
The Nodal Ministry for the PMJDY is Department of Financial
Services(DFS), Ministry of Finance(MoF).
·
The slogan of PMJDY is ‘Mera
Khata – Bhagya Vidhata’.
·
The
scheme set a Guinness World Record by
opening nearly 1.8 crore bank accounts in a single week during its launch phase.
·
PMJDY
accounts have grown from 14.72 crores (cr) in 2015 to over
56.16 cr by August 2025.
·
56% PMJDY accounts belong to women, highlighting the scheme’s role in promoting gender
equality in financial access.
·
Total deposit balances under PMJDY accounts have reached Rs. 2,67,756
cr.
·
As on
13th August 2025, the average deposit per account is Rs. 4,768.
·
A total
of 38.68 cr RuPay debit cards have been issued
to PMJDY account holders, facilitating cashless transactions.
7.
INDIA’S
FIRST EMI-DRIVEN RUPAY CREDIT CARD
·
Unity Small Finance Bank Limited (Unity Bank) partnered
with BharatPe to launch India’s first Equated
Monthly Instalment (EMI)-driven credit card, the ‘Unity
Bank BharatPe Credit Card’.
·
The card
operates on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) operated RuPay network.
·
Eligibility Applicants must be between 21
and 65 years of age, with a minimum
annual income of Rs.2.5 lakh for salaried individuals and Rs.5 lakh for self-employed individuals.
·
Monthly unpaid spends above Rs. 1000 are automatically
converted into EMIs with flexible tenures of up to 12 months, with penalty-free prepayment.
·
No joining charges, annual fees, or foreclosure penalties.
·
Flat 2% unlimited rewards (Zillion
Coins) on EMI-converted transactions, redeemable for vouchers, products, or bill payments (up to Rs. 5,000).
·
Linkable to Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) for seamless transactions.
8. BOOK
“SECESSION OF THE SUCCESSFUL: THE FLIGHT OUT OF NEW INDIA”
·
The
book, “Secession of the Successful: The Flight Out of New India”, authored
by political commentator and policy analyst Sanjay Baru,
has been officially released.
·
It was
published by Penguin Viking India.
·
It
explores the change in mindset of Indians choosing to settle permanently
abroad, terming them as “Non-Returning Indians”.
·
Over 2.25
lakh Indians renounced citizenship in 2022 and 2.16 lakh Indians in 2023.
9. MULTINATIONAL
MILITARY DRILL ‘EXERCISE BRIGHT STAR 2025’
·
India has
deployed more than 700 personnel from the Indian
Armed Forces and Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff to participate in ‘Exercise
Bright Star 2025’, a multilateral exercise, which is held at the
Mohamed Naguib Military Base in Matrouh
Governorate, Egypt.
·
Exercise Bright Star is a biennial, multinational military exercise, held in
Egypt.
·
It is a tri-service exercise involving the Army,
Navy, and Air Force of participating countries.
·
The
exercise began in 1980 as a bilateral exercise
between the United States of America (USA) and Egypt, following the Camp David
Accords (1978).
·
In 1996,
countries such as France, United Kingdom (UK), Germany, and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) joined the exercise, which was followed by other countries
subsequently.
·
The 19th
edition of the exercise will witness
participation of 43 countries, with 13
countries deploying 7,900 troops, and 30
countries take part as observers.
·
Egypt Capital – Cairo.
10. WORLD
WATER WEEK 2025 – AUGUST 24 TO 28
·
World Water Week (WWW), the leading global conference on the water
crisis, is observed annually during the last week of August.
·
The 2025 theme of the WWW is “Water for
Climate Action”.
·
WWW has
been organized every year since 1991 by
SIWI.
·
Stockholm celebrated its clean waters with a public festival, which
included the 1st Stockholm Water Symposium.
·
In 2001,
the Stockholm Water Symposium was
renamed to World Water Week in Stockholm.
11. INTERNATIONAL
DAY AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS 2025 – AUGUST 29
·
The
United Nations (UN’s) International Day Against Nuclear Tests (IDANT)
is annually observed across the globe on 29 August to
raise awareness about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions and
advocating for a nuclear-weapon-free world.
·
The world’s first nuclear test under the Manhattan Project was conducted on 16
July 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA.
12. NATIONAL
SPORTS DAY 2025 – AUGUST 29
·
National
Sports Day (NSD), also known as Rashtriya Khel
Divas, is annually observed across India on 29th August to
commemorate the birth anniversary of Major Dyan Chand
Singh, a legendary field hockey player in Indian sports, widely
regarded as the ‘Wizard of Hockey’.
·
On 29
august fitness movement started
under the theme ‘Ek Ghanta,
Khel ke Maidan Main’.
·
India Inaugurated First
Mondo Track at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
·
India’s first Mondo Track inauguarated at
the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
·
India
became the 25th country worldwide to install the premium
Mondo track surface.
13. NATIONAL
SMALL INDUSTRY DAY 2025 – AUGUST 30
·
India
observes National Small Industry Day (NSID) on 30th
August 2025, to recognize the pivotal role of Small-Scale
Industries (SSIs) and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
in economic growth, employment generation, and inclusive development.
·
The
United Nations (UN) Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day is
observed every year on 27 June worldwide.
